


Best Behavior

by biggestbaddestwolf



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Multi, Surprise Ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 02:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biggestbaddestwolf/pseuds/biggestbaddestwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt decides the best way to introduce Burt and Sam is to not tell Burt that Sam's his boyfriend. Just that his boyfriend will be at the house. Kurt has the best plans.  Written somewhere in second season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Behavior

Burt hovered in the doorway to Kurt’s room. “So…this boy. He’s coming tonight, right?”

Kurt was holding up a red cardigan and a blue sweater with a handprint on the front, comparing how the two of them looked in the mirror. He glanced over his shoulder at his father. “ ‘This boy’?” He smiled fondly at his dad. “Yes, he is. And you’re going to be on your best behavior with him, too.”

Blinking, Burt crossed his arms. “I wasn’t gonna take out the shotgun or anything, but this is my house, and this…kid is dating my son. If I wanna question him during halftime, I’m gonna question him.” Sighing, Kurt laid the red cardigan on the bed and pulled the blue sweater over the white button-up he was wearing. He didn’t respond, though, and after a few beats of silence, Burt continued. “Are you sure coming over for the game with Finn and his friends is the best time for me to meet him?”

“What do you mean?” Kurt adjusted his own collar and made a kissy face at his own reflection. He smiled, happy with the ensemble. “I think it’s the perfect opportunity for you to get to know him.”

“I don’t know. Figured you guys might like dinner and one of your movies instead,” Burt spoke slowly, as if he was worried about offending Kurt.

On another day, Kurt might have gotten on his case, snappishly educating him on the assumptions and unintended offense in his words. Today, however, Kurt still had to fix his hair and make sure Carole prepared the heart-healthy chili recipe correctly, and he was in far too good of a mood to get angry at his father.

Instead, he laughed, walking over to his dad and playfully pushing him out the room. “Go downstairs, dad. Isn’t the game about to start?” As if Kurt had timed it, Finn could be heard hollering for Burt to come downstairs, that Sam and Puck were at the door and he was going to get it. “See? Go and play host in my stead. I still have to get ready.”

“He better not be late,” Burt told Kurt sternly. “When I was your age, I knew you had to show up at a reasonable hour to meet the parents.”

Kurt smiled warmly, quirking a teasing eyebrow as he closed the door behind his father. “Don’t worry, he won’t be.”

 

Sam ran a hand through his hair. “What if Mr. Hummel hates me?”

Puck snorted as he and Sam walked up to the Hummel/Hudson doorstep. “Bro, Burt’s like, the coolest dad ever. Don’t worry about it. Guy lets  _me_ into the house.” At Sam’s questioning look, Puck shrugged. “After the whole baby-drama with Finn, and the dumpster tosses and furniture nailing, if Burt’s cool with me up in his crib, he’s not gonna flip that you’re dating his son.” Puck shoves his hands into the pockets of his varsity jacket. “You’re not even  _banging_  Kurt, so whatever.”

Sam paused, staring at Puck with a slightly dropped mouth before asking, “Furniture nailing?”

“Pre-Glee,” Puck filled in. “Old news, Kurt totally understands.” Sam looked wary, but didn’t question it. “And close your mouth, man. It’s weird when you do that, I keep wanting you to start singing Steven Tyler or something.”

Sam clamped his mouth shut.

Still, neither of them moved to knock on the door just yet. Sam was feeling a little weird about the whole thing. It had all started with a text message from Kurt a couple of days ago, and the start of what Sam thought might have been the stupidest plan that Kurt had ever hatched. After Finn suggested Puck and Sam come over to watch the game this weekend, Kurt had been positively thrilled at the idea. Sam hadn’t been over to the house yet- he and Finn were only just repairing their friendship after Quinn, and Kurt and Sam had only just started dating. So Kurt thought that it was a great way for Sam to officially meet Burt.

According to Kurt, since they’d been dating for a total of two weeks, he was sure that Burt hadn’t made the connection between ‘My boyfriend’ (a term that, according to Finn, Kurt always accompanied with a sigh and a look up at the ceiling) and ‘Finn’s friend Sam that’s in Glee with us’. Finn theorized that Kurt was so high on having a boyfriend that it hadn’t occurred to Kurt to actually give any  _details_ about said boyfriend.

So Kurt wanted Burt to meet Sam and  _then_ introduce him as The Boyfriend.

Sam thought it was ridiculous, but he wasn’t going to argue with Kurt about how to deal with his dad. He was just going to roll with it. That didn’t mean he was any more comfortable with meeting the parents.

Puck jolted him out of his thoughts by knocking on his forehead like it was the front door. Sam shook his head, and shoved Puck back, not quite playfully but not very hard. “Back off,” he groused.

“Wanted to make sure you were still in there,” Puck told him, smirking. “Are you gonna knock on the door, or do you want me to do it while you space and look like a homeless crazy person when Burt answers the door.”

Sam took a deep and knocked on the door, bracing himself. Best behavior, he told himself. Best behavior. When Finn opened the door and let them in, Sam was almost disappointed, but mostly, he was sort of relieved that he had a couple minutes longer to prepare himself.

Best behavior.

 

Finn was half-way out of his seat with indignation. “Oh come on, that was the stupidest call-”

“You’re only pissed because your ass is about to be out of twenty bucks,” Puck snorted, elbowing Sam to agree with him. Sam chuckled but didn’t reply. Normally, he would have said something, instead of just tapping his fingers on his cup of soda (Diet, which he didn’t think the Hummel house would have, but Carole had just passed him the glasses and winked when he wandered into the kitchen, which made him think _oh my god, Finn’s mom knows I like Diet Soda. And am dating her step-son_.) and smiling awkwardly.

Normally, though, the father of his boyfriend wasn’t sitting in the armchair next to the couch corner that Sam was nestled in. His reactions were slightly different than his usual right now. Every time he started getting comfortable, or cracking a joke, he’d end up looking over to Burt, who was quietly watching the game, and then Sam would decide that silence was probably the best course of action.

“What’s taking Kurt so long?” Carole came out of the kitchen to refill the chips and dip, stopping for a moment to sit on the other arm of the couch, next to her son. She ruffled his hair, even as Finn blushed at the contact. “I thought for sure he’d be ready at least three hours in advance for tonight.”

Finn shrugged. “Want me to go check on him?”

Burt looked at his watch as the commercial break started. “See what’s keeping him.” Finn started to get up. “And ask if that boyfriend of his called.”

“I’ve got to use the bathroom,” Sam interjected, and immediately felt stupid as he stood up. “I’ll, uh, knock on my way back down.” Finn glanced over, raising an eyebrow, but finally shrugging and sitting back down, diving into the chips and dip that Puck was currently devouring.

Sam put down his soda. Then grabbed a coaster and put the soda on top of that. And then he made it to the stairs before turning. “His bedroom’s up here, right?”

Finn nodded. “Two doors to the left.” Sam nodded. Made it up three steps, turned. “Bathroom’s a door past his bedroom.” Sam nodded again.

Kurt needed to be down here ASAP.

 

“Sam!” Kurt beamed as soon as he opened his bedroom door. Then he frowned. “What are you doing up here? Aren’t you supposed to be sitting with my dad…?”

“I’m supposed to be going to the bathroom,” Sam explained, making his way into the bedroom. He looked around, and was unsurprised to see that the décor vaguely resembled a bedroom from the Great Gatsby. “But I was supposed to see if your…uh, your boyfriend called to say he’d be late.” Sam lifted his eyebrows as he looked at Kurt, with a look that would have bordered on reproachful if it weren’t for the fondness in his eyes.

Kurt smiled at him, walking over and adjusting the shoulders of Sam’s blue t-shirt. “You look nice. I always liked this shirt on you.”

Sam looked down. “It’s just a shirt.” His favorite shirt, but still, he didn’t think it looked  _special_  or anything. He tugged at the bottom of it. “Seriously, though, why are you still up here?” He frowned. “It’s kind of awkward down there.”

“Awkward how?” Finished fixing Sam’s shirt, Kurt stayed where he was, his hand flat against Sam’s chest. “My dad isn’t telling stories about when I was little, is he? If he is, I’m ashamed, and I swear, I didn’t put  _that_  much make up on him. It was very tasteful.”

Sam pressed his lips together to keep from smiling back at Kurt. He ended up resting a hand on Kurt’s waist. “Your dad is all kinds of terrifying.”

“That’s my dad,” Kurt shrugged, completely unapologetically. “But he’s a sweetheart once he gets to know you, trust me. Just be your naturally charming self…I’m pretty sure he’d even think your horrendous Terminator impression was funny.”

“It’s not horrendous.”

“It’s horrendous that you do it at all, but it is an amazing impersonation,” Kurt granted teasingly. Sam rolled his eyes. Kurt tilted his head up to give Sam a quick peck on the lips. “Now, what is actually happening downstairs that has you so nervous?”

Sam shrugged. “You’re not down there.”

“…And…?”

“And your dad looks like he’s going to murder your very late boyfriend,” Sam elaborated.

“Ah, I see,” Kurt nodded sagely. “And you’re waiting for me to come and save you.”

“Uh, yeah,” Sam answered, as if this was the most obvious thing on the planet. He notices Kurt’s outfit. “Does your sweater have  _patches_  on the elbows?” He sounded confused, mainly because he didn’t know that elbow patches were a thing that Kurt did. Then again, Kurt tended to surprise him with his wardrobe about every other day of the week.

Kurt stepped back for a moment, looking down at his own yellow cardigan. “It’s one of my favorite sweaters.” He looked worried for a minute. “You hate it, don’t you?”

“No, no I don’t…” Even as Sam tried to reassure Kurt, Kurt started towards the bed. The bed which, Sam noted, was covered in various shirts, sweaters, and the like. “Are you seriously up here because you’re picking out an outfit?”

Kurt was switching out of the yellow cardigan and grabbing a long red one, putting it on and looking in the mirror. “I’m still up here so you and my dad-”

“And Carole, and Finn, and Puckerman,” Sam interjected.

“-can have some quality time before I drop the big boyfriend bomb on him,” Kurt finished, unfazed. “Now, if that means I have more time to find the ideal ensemble for his first and most important image of us as a couple, well, that’s to everyone’s benefit, isn’t it?” Sam didn’t get it, and his expression said as such. Kurt sighed deeply, and motioned him over to the mirror. “Come here, stand next to me.”

Sam obliged, and looked at the two of them in the mirror. He didn’t think that Burt cared too much about what he wore, and it wasn’t a fancy dinner, so he was pretty sure that his cheap t-shirt and jeans were passable, but Kurt always looked so done up, that Sam was never really sure. He wanted, suddenly, to tell Kurt that he was crazy relieved when he saw Burt wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and slippers when he came into the house, but he didn’t.

Kurt reached out to the side, and Sam took his hand. “I think we look amazing. Thoughts?”

“I think you’ll look good in any of your clothes, and you should come downstairs before the game’s over.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Not the thought I meant, but I see your point.” He smiled over at Sam. “Go downstairs, and I’ll be there in a minute. Promise.”

“I, uh…like the sweater. That you’re wearing now,” Sam said. “You look good in red.” The tone of his voice added an unspoken, ‘I always thought you did’. Kurt beamed, and then blushed. Sam shrugged and went to the door.

“Sam?” Sam turned. “You probably would feel less put on the spot if you stopped wearing a shirt with a giant target on it. Just saying.”

Sam shook his head and went back downstairs.

 

“He done up there?” Burt asked as Sam sat back down.

“Almost. I think he’s got to put away his whole closet first,” Sam answered with a shrug. In his absence, Carole had brought out a couple of dining room chairs, so she and Finn were off the couch, leaving Puck and Sam to take up the space.

He knew he had to relax. The last thing he wanted was for Burt to think that his son was dating at complete weirdo. And a non-weirdo would be able to sit and enjoy the game without looking like he was going to be taken out back and shot, right?

He had to break the ice- the ice that should have been broken at least an hour ago. He opened his mouth to speak.

“So you’re in Glee and on the team too, huh?” Burt spoke before Sam could. He didn’t turn and look while he spoke. Sam swallowed a lump on his throat. “Must be tough, since this is your first year at McKinley and all.”

“I like keeping busy,” Sam said after a moment, suddenly aware that his mouth was as dry as a desert. Puck and Finn weren’t staring at him, exactly, but the two of them kept throwing sidelong looks at him and Burt every couple of seconds before going back to arguing about…well, Sam actually wasn’t paying any attention, so he didn’t know what they were going on about.

“You prefer one over the other?”

“Not really,” Sam started, and then he paused, reconsidering. “I’ve always played sports, but most of my friends are in Glee, so I’d say I like Glee a little bit more.” He wasn’t going to say ‘also, your son’s in Glee, which is cool’. But he wanted to.

Burt nodded, more to himself than anything else.

Fortunately, before anymore questions could be asked, Kurt came down the steps. He’d added a little hat to his ensemble- of course, Sam couldn’t help but think. Sam grinned automatically as he watched Kurt enter the living room, looking quickly down at his soda so Burt didn’t wonder what this kid was doing ogling his son. He was fairly confident no one noticed.

“I hope you were all able to occupy yourselves in my absence-” Kurt narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dip on the table. “Dad, that better be mild. You know he can’t have too much spicy food.”

Burt held his hands up. “Haven’t touched the dip at all.” That was a lie, Sam knew it, because he’d silently passed Burt the bowl a couple of times while they all sat there, but he didn’t comment.

Kurt rolled his eyes, before walking over to the couch. Puck automatically moved over, letting Kurt sit in the middle next to Sam. Kurt clapped his hands together. “So, what have you all been up to?”

“Finn’s losing twenty bucks tonight,  _easy_ ,” Puck informed him smugly.

“There’s still a quarter and a half to the game, so Puck’s going to have to pay up,” Finn said.

Kurt glanced over at Sam and Burt. “And you two?”

Sam and Burt actually turned and looked at each other, as if it was the first time they’d done so all evening. And it might have been, Sam wasn’t sure. “We were talking about Glee some,” Sam answered after a moment.

“Good, good,” Kurt said earnestly. “What’d you say?”

“That I liked it.”

Kurt didn’t seem pleased with that answer. “That’s it?” His eyebrows arched and his lips were pressed together in that way that Sam was pretty sure meant that he was being judged. Maybe. “Nothing about my spectacular solo last rehearsal? My stunning rendition of ‘Here Comes the Rain Again’?”

Oh, right. Sam glanced over at Burt. “Your son did an awesome Annie Lennox song.”

“I gathered that,” Burt said. Sam wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. “Are you guys going to do it at Nationals?”

“I wish,” Kurt sighed. He draped an arm over the back of the couch, behind Sam, turning so that he was facing Sam and his father. Sam caught the quick eyebrow raise from Burt. “It was my answer to Mr. Schuester’s latest assignment, nothing more.”

“We could win with it,” Sam found himself saying. Kurt blinked at him, and Sam suddenly realized that Burt, Carole, Finn, and Puck were staring at him as well. He’d spoken with a little more vehemence than he’d intended. But he stood by his statement. “Mr. Schue should let you sing a solo. You deserve it.”

Burt took a drink from the can of beer Sam hadn’t noticed him holding. “It was that good, huh?” His voice was still even, the tone undecipherable.

“Yeah, it was,” Sam continued. “Your son’s really good.” He blushed, looking down. “You know that already, but I mean it. He’s one of our best voices. I’m glad to have him back.”

Finn made a noise that sound like he was going to speak, and then a noise that resembled a squeak. A quick glance over told Sam that Carole had squeezed her son’s shoulder quite firmly.

Attention came back to Burt and Sam, and Sam felt equally parts glad that he was continuing to voice his opinion and nervous enough that he wanted to retreat.

Kurt looked absolutely delighted at the conversation, and gripped Sam’s hand with a large smile. “I think you have fabulous taste, Sam,” Kurt informed him. “Doesn’t he have great taste, dad?”

Burt looked at the two of the consideringly for a minute, and his eyes did linger over their clasped hands. He nodded. “Yeah, he does.”

He settled back to watch the rest of the game.

 

When Finn won the bet he had going with Puck, Puck insisted on a best of three Soul Caliber battle to settle things for good, so the two of them vanished to Finn’s room. Kurt got a call from Mercedes that he insisted had to be answered  _immediately_  but he’d be back shortly to talk to both Sam and Burt about very important business, while Carole retired to her bedroom to get some early shut eye.

Sam volunteered to help do the dishes and take out the trash while all of this was going on. He came back into the house from putting the garbage out front to find Burt in the kitchen, putting the leftovers in Tupperware. Sam stepped into the kitchen and stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Come over here and put these in the refrigerator for me, will you?” Burt broke the silence, holding out two containers.

Sam walked over and grabbed the containers, quietly moving towards the refrigerator. He made it to the step where he opened the refrigerator before taking a deep breath and turning towards Burt. “Mr. Hummel-”

“It’s just Burt, kid,” Burt told him.

“Okay…” Sam started again. “Burt, I just wanted to let you know that-”

“That you’re dating my son,” Burt interjected. Sam stayed very still. He wasn’t sure why, but he was having flashbacks to the first time he ever saw Jurassic Park, and every time he’d ever watched Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. “Yeah, I got that from the way you two looked at each other.”

“You did?” Sam didn’t need to  _try_  to sound embarrassed. It came naturally. He raised the hand that wasn’t holding leftovers to rub the back of his neck. “Uh, sorry if I was…inappropriate or…”

Burt didn’t smile, but he didn’t look positively murderous either. “You weren’t.”

“Oh. Good then.”

“Put that food away, you’re letting all the cold out of the fridge.” He nodded towards Sam’s hands. Sam nodded, and put the food away. He closed the refrigerator door and then shoved his hands in his back pockets, steeling himself for whatever Burt was going to say to him. “My son says he likes you a lot.” Burt somehow managed to turn that into “Do you like my son?” with a simple eyebrow raise, and Sam knew right then where Kurt got it from.

“I like him a lot too, sir.” Then, after a minute, “Not to sound weird or anything, but he’s the best thing that’s happened to me since I transferred. He’s been great.”

Burt crossed his arms, turning away from the leftovers still on the counter. “Kurt’s a good kid.”

“A great kid.”

He must have said the right thing, because for a fleeting second, a smile was apparent on Burt’s face, before Burt hid it behind the sternest dad face that Sam had ever had the privilege of viewing. “But he’s particular. Always has been.” Oh, Sam already knew that. “He’s a health food nut.”

“He helped me plan my off-season diet last week,” Sam told Burt. “I messed up the math on my calorie count last year, so he helped me fix it.”

Burt looked impressed- or weirded out, Sam wasn’t sure- but continued. “He likes his clothes.”

“He taught me the proper way to fold pants.”

“I’m still getting used to that one,” Burt admitted. Then, he frowned, narrowing his eyes and lifting his chin slightly. “McKinley’s been rough for Kurt. I don’t want him getting hurt because some kid gets self-conscious over some locker room talk.”

“Sir-”

“Burt.”

“Burt, no offense or anything, but I’m in Glee. I’m kind of used to locker room talk already,” Sam shrugged. “I used to care what the guys on the team said. Like, a lot. But how Kurt feels is more important, trust me.”

“You sure about that?”

Was Sam? At this point, yeah, he was. After Quinn, and Santana, and coming out, he damned well better be. “I’m going to get talked about whether or not I’m with Kurt since I came out. With Kurt, I’m happier than I’ve been this whole year.”

Burt stared at Sam for a long time. Sam did his best not to squirm. Burt finally nodded. “Good.” Then, “You two aren’t…doing anything inappropriate are you?”

Sam’s face turned red. “We’ve been dating less than a month.”

That answer seemed to satisfy Burt. “I just want to make sure my boy’s being safe. And is being treated well.” Somehow, in that bizarre dad-way of his, ‘and is being treated well’ sounded like a threat. But Sam was confident that he was, and could treat Kurt well, so he just nodded. “Now start these dishes. Kurt and Carole made most of dinner, so I don’t want to leave a mess for them.”

Sam smiled crookedly and went to the sink. “No problem, Burt.”

They worked in silence for a bit. “His Annie Lennox sounded good?”

“Great,” Sam said with a soft smile. “I can’t wait until next week.”

“What’s next week?” Burt asked.

“We’re singing a duet.”

At that, Burt smiled for a long time.

 

When Kurt came back from his bedroom, Burt begged off of the ‘big announcement’, saying he was tired, and that Kurt should make sure that Sam went home before it was too late. “It was nice meeting you, Sam,” Burt said before leaving the kitchen. “I expect to see you around here for dinner soon.”

“Yes, sir,” Sam answered with a quick nod.

“It’s Burt, kid,” he said before kissing Kurt on the forehead. “Good night you two.”

When Burt was gone, Kurt narrowed his eyes. Then he pouted. “You totally spoiled the surprise, didn’t you?”

Sam shrugged as he finished wiping down the counter. “He put it together on his own. But I  _was_  about to cave and tell him anyway.”

Kurt sighed and brushed his hair to the side. “Of course you were.” But he walked over and wrapped his arms around Sam from behind, resting his head on Sam’s shoulder. “You’re terrible when it comes to suspense.”

Sam chuckled. “You’re only saying that because you weren’t the one under the microscope tonight. When he started asking where your boyfriend was and why he was running late, I thought I was going to pee my pants.” Kurt laughed into the curve of his neck. “I’m serious! I’m pretty sure I now know what new SHIELD agents feel like when Fury gets on their case.”

“I have no clue what that means.”

“It’s okay,” Sam assured him, and made a note to find some quality Nick Fury comics to illustrate his point later on. “It went better than I thought though. Your dad is pretty cool.”

Kurt sighed. “Totally over protective, but…”

“I don’t know, I think he’s the right amount of protective,” Sam countered. “I like him.”

“I think he likes you too, if that helps,” Kurt said. “Since I’m pretty sure he would have said it was time for you to go home now if he didn’t.”

That was a good thing to hear. Sam hung the cloth he was cleaning with on the side of the sink. Still wrapped in Kurt’s arms, he turned to face his boyfriend, putting his arms around Kurt’s waist. He smiled shyly. “So I didn’t embarrass you?”

“I was never worried about  _you_  embarrassing me, Sam.”

Sam looked suspicious. “Really?”

“Of course not,” Kurt said. “Now my  _father_ , on the other hand…” He laughed again, kissing Sam softly. “I’m proud of both of you. You were both on your best behavior, clearly.” He squeezed Sam tightly, a quick hug. Sam hugged back.

“You think he’s going to be that chill when he finds out about Puck and Finn?”

“With how much time they spend alone in Finn’s room playing video games?” Kurt snorted. “Of course not.”

 


End file.
